How to set up as a sole trader or start a small business in France re-selling goods or materials, or offering services. Understand the taxes due, invoicing and book-keeping obligations...

As explained in Angloinfo's INFOrmation Page on Starting a Business in France, any for-profit activity in France - regardless of the amount of revenue generated - requires a legal structure, with the business either:

Registered as an individual operator (sole trader), or

Registered as a company/corporation

The statutauto-entrepreneur simplifies the process of registering and running the smallest sole-trader businesses.
This applies to those who wish to run a business under the Micro-BIC or Micro-BNC tax régimes, where annual turnover (2017) is less than:

€82,800 for those re-selling goods or materials, as well as hotels and rural gîtes